Seven Years Of Childlessness Never Bothered Me – Norbert Young

Nollywood veterans, Norbert Young and Gloria have come out to recount what it was like to be childless for seven years. They recently had their say during an appearance on the Love Notes with Tope podcast, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to Norbert, he never saw their childlessness as a challenge because he had a sister who was married for 16 years without a child, before eventually giving birth on the 17th year.

Gloria added that she definitely felt the heat for a while, especially with big aunties staring closely at her stomach during family gatherings.

Her words, “I was childless for seven years, He never saw it as a challenge. But I was the one feeling it, and I was the one seeing things. And he was the one telling me, What is it? Stop worrying about such things. Nobody in his family did. But I would go to my family gatherings, not asking per se, but imagine you’re walking into the room, and one aunty looks at you—makes sure that you know she’s looking at you—then her eyes go down to your stomach.

And as you walk away, her eyes are still there. What is she telling you? Like, ‘How far, na? E don tey oh! E don pass one, two, three…’ Without saying a word. Oh, I had those kinds of aunties.”

He added, “I didn’t see it as a challenge, you see, because I kept telling her, ‘What are you worried about? What is it? Be calming down.’ How can I see it as a challenge? I had a sister who was married for 16 years without a child, and on the 17th year, she had a child. Her husband never told her to leave. That child today is a medical doctor—a big man, too. So what’s the big deal? It didn’t threaten our union at all.”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.